The Life After
by mystrye
Summary: After the defeat of Voldemort, Hermione struggles to find her own life again. What happens when someone she thought was dead finds her just as she is trying to loose herself. HG/SS. EWE. Rated M for language and sexual situations in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

The music blared. The basic from the speakers vibrated through her bones but she didn't care. The club was full of people tonight. Bodies dancing, gyrating, grooving to the absurdly loud music in the darkness. Multicolored lights danced over the crowd, barely illuminating faces for mere seconds. This was her haven. Here were no one knew her name. No one recognized her face. Here she could escape the realities of her life. Here, in this muggle dance club, Hermione Granger was no one.

The war was over. Done. Voldemort was defeated. Harry had won. They all had won. But at what cost. It plagued Hermione daily. The guilt at surviving. Knowing that so many did not. Remus, Tonks, Fred, Moody, Dobby, Dumbledore... And Severus Snape. It broke her heart everyday. Ate her up inside. She was the brightest witch of her age but even she couldn't make it stop. It ruined her already ill-fated relationship with Ron Weasley. She loved Ron, she did. But the romance was not to be. They were too different at their cores. And once the fire died. Once the guilt and depression started to kick in after the war, Ron couldn't continue. It was he who broke up with her.

'you aren't the same. I don't know how to help you and you don't want my help.' he had said to her softly one afternoon. Hermione had just stared into her tea, swirling the contents around in the cup. She wasn't shocked. She had changed. Everything had changed.

Beyond everything else, her sense of purpose had ended with Voldemort's defeat. Harry had his fame. Ron jumped into Auror training. But Hermione had so many directions she could go in that she felt lost. Funny how her ambition had always driven her. She had always known what to do with her life, but now... She felt so lost.

So she sought out whatever would make her feel alive again. Which was why she was at a muggle dance club in the middle of the week. She would be exhausted going to work tomorrow at Flourish and Blotts, but tonight she didn't care. Tonight she danced, feeling the music, moving to it, letting hands rest on her hips as she moved against people she didn't know. People who would never know that she was a celebrity for a whole population they didn't know existed. No one in the bar had even the slightest clue who she was... No one except for a man sitting at the bar, highly uncomfortable, who hadn't taken his eyes off her since she arrived.

Severus Snape was dead. Yep. DEAD. Killed by Nagini and Voldemort right before the death of the Dark Lord himself. He had died as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger watched. and that was the story that Severus wanted everyone to know. It was the truth as he was willing to let most of society understand it. There was no need to correct any of the Wizarding World's opinions on the matter.

'Uncle! Try not to look so uncomfortable.' Draco Malfoy chastised. Severus still could not believe he was here. Very few people knew of his current status of being very much alive. Draco was one of those privileged few. And he was only in this godforsaken bar because the boy had begged him. He couldn't very well take Draco out for the boy's birthday to a wizard establishment. So a muggle one was the answer.

'I am uncomfortable.' Severus glared at his nephew over his glass before scanning the room of sweaty dancing bodies.

'yea, we'll you are scaring away all the girls! ' the boy whined, jokingly.

Severus raised an eyebrow at his nephew.' since when do you fancy muggle women?'

Draco huffed. 'well I don't want to marry one. But a dalliance might be fun.' he smirked at his uncle before excusing himself to talk to a blonde a little ways down the bar.

Severus shook his head and downed his drink. Ordering another one his eyes scanned the room. Watching the faces of the muggle as they lost themselves in their music. Until one in particular caught his attention. at first he didn't believe his eyes, surely he was mistaken. But no, that bushy hair and that face. Miss Hermione Granger was on the dance floor.

_Please let me know what you think. This idea came to me in the middle of the night one night and has been plaguing me for a long time. Should I continue? I look forward to your opinions! -Mystrye_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks so much for the reviews already! Here is another chapter for you! _

Severus watched in shock as the know-it-all muggleborn, always attached at the hip to Potter and Weasley, danced amidst the other muggles. She dipped and swayed to the beat. Her hands trailed over her own body as she moved. She would slide up against one male moving with his motions for a moment before spinning away in a graceful move to dance on her own for another moment. Watching her movements as she Undulated her hips and stomach, Severus stared, taking in the image of his former student. Black Fishnet covered her arms and torso, layered on top of a bright red bra. A short skirt rode low on her hips. More Fishnet covered her legs, disappearing into knee high boots. The woman was nothing like the girl he had taught year after year in the potions classroom AT Hogwarts.

"what are you staring at, uncle?" Draco was back. Severus groaned and pulled his attention back to his nephew.

'enjoying the view.'he answered. 'weren't you trying to get into that girl's knickers?'

"Not interested." the boy grumbled as he looked out over the dance floor. "Anything worth entertaining out there?"

Severus sipped his drink again. Yes. Hell yes. He very much wanted to know why the know-it-all Gryffindor was here in this club instead of playing wife for Weasley or freeing house elves or something. And what the name of Merlin was she wearing?

"Nope," was the answer that he gave his nephew. Draco narrowed his eyes at his uncle for a moment, before following his gaze out into the crowd.

Shaking his head and clearly not seeing whatever it was that had caught Severus' attention, Draco huffed. He might care for his nephew greatly but he couldn't deny that the boy was still a spoiled brat. If he didn't get what he wanted, when he wanted it, he was a pouty little chit.

"I'm gonna try a different bar. Clearly, the females here can't appreciate me." Draco frowned.

Severus' face didn't change. "Fine. Go."

"Well, aren't you going to come with me?" Draco looked upset but it didn't faze Severus much at all.

"Draco, I said I would take you out to a bar for your birthday. Not galavant through London trying to find a bar where some muggle woman will agree to fuck you for the night. I have taken you to a bar. If you want to continue on your quest, then have your way. I am going to finish my drink then retire before someone recognizes me or some shit." He never looked away from the dance floor. The little Gryffindor had switched partners at least three more times since he had noticed that she was there. Part of him felt incredibly dirty, watching his former student as she danced, completely unaware of his gaze upon her. Hell, she thought he had died a good three years ago.

Draco glared at his uncle before all but storming out of the pub. He would get over it, Severus had no doubt. Taking his eyes off the Granger girl for a moment, he turned to order another drink from the barkeep.

Hermione's breath came in pants. Her sides hurt from dancing non-stop, but she didn't care. She felt as alive as she could while she was on the dancefloor. She spun out of the embrace of one man and into those of another. This man was tall with dark hair. That was all she noticed. She didn't care about any other details as she moved with him to the music. His hands trailed over her body and she leaned back into him, letting the sensations work their way through her. Hot breath brushed her ear as the man bent a little so she could hear him. She couldn't of course, but she knew the words. They were the same words she had heard night after night. With a curt nod, she took his hand and allowed herself to be led from the dancefloor and out of the club.

Despite being the beginning of June, the night air was crisp and almost a shock to her overheated system. She shivered for a moment as she got used to the air outside. Neither she nor the man said a word as he pushed her up against the wall and captured her lips with his own.

He tasted like cigarettes and was wholly too eager but she didn't care. She closed her eyes and wrapped herself around him, letting him roughly grope her body. Anything to feel sensations other than those that plagued her daily life. His hands lifted her off her feet, and her legs went around his waist. He groaned as he ground his hips against her. She could feel how hard he was through the thin mesh of her fishnet tights and knickers.

Suddenly he was gone. Ripped from her so fast that she fell to the ground in a very unceremonious like manner. Dazed she shook her head several times trying to clear it and discover what was wrong. Her dance partner was being brutally beaten. Her ears rung from the bass of the club. But she could make out words concerning non-payment and what sounded like a very large amount of drugs.

Hermione tried to gather her wits and get to her feet. She needed to do something. She needed to help? Or maybe run away? She wasn't sure. She fumbled at her boot, trying to get the wand that was hidden there, but it caught on her fishnets. What was wrong with her? She never used to be this slow on the draw. She was struggling to stand and retrieve her wand when one of the assailants' eyes turned to her with a predatory gaze.

_So what do you think? What will happen next? Let me know what you think in your reviews! Your reviews are what keep me writing!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks so much for your warm welcome and encouraging reviews. I appreciate__them more than i could say! I won't be able to post anything new until next week sometime because I'm going camping starting tomorrow! So I hope this holds you over for a bit! -Mystrye_

Chapter 3

Severus had not taken his eyes off of Hermione for more than a few moments while ordering another drink, but when he turned back around the girl was no where to be seen. His dark eyes scanned over the crowd for several long moments, thinking that she was simply shorter than the other dancers. No. She was gone.

"Probably for the best." He muttered to himself. Downing his drink probably a bit faster than he should have, he laid his muggle money on the counter and turned to leave. He really didn't have any other reason to stay. Draco had left and clearly so had Miss Granger. Might as well go home, he could drink there without damaging his eardrums and get drunk without having to pay more for it.

The air outside was cool and he breathed it in for a moment before turning down the street, looking for an alley where he could apparate without being seen by all the muggles. Not that there were many wandering the streets at night. He wasn't far along his walk before he neared the alley that Draco and he had apparated in to go to the bar in the first place.

The noise reached his ears first. Not that he was sure how, surely the music from the club would leave him deaf for a week. There was a fight happening in the alley. Quietly he cursed his luck. Of course there were muggles fighting in the alley way that was the closest ticket home. He was about to turn around and mind his own business when he heard a female scream.

He spun back around and drew his wand with a speed he hadn't needed in years. The scene in the alleyway was enough to make his heart sink. Several men were still beating on another man, blood poured from the man's mouth and nose and bruises already covered his face. But the scream he had heard, that came from none other than the Gryffindor Know-it-all he had been watching a few moments before. One man in a ski mask had her arms held behind her as she struggled against another who was pawing at her, trying to tear through her fishnets.

Severus was momentarily stunned by the sight before him. He would later wonder why. He had seen far worse while being a Death Eater, but he guess that being out of it all for several years, he was no longer desensitized to it. With several quick flicks of his wand and a quick _Stupefy_, Granger's assailants were stunned on the ground. A few more want motions and the other men, including the one they were beating up, joined the others.

He turned his gaze to the woman who had been his student. She had fallen to the ground when the others had been hit with the hex. She stared up at him with wide, confused eyes.

"You're… you're dead." She said.

"Very astute. Clearly you have been misled, Miss Granger. Or are your mental faculties failing more than I had assumed given your current dress and predicament?" He answered matter-of-factly as he went about Obviating the stunned men.

Hermione couldn't think. The club. The attack. Snape. Severus fucking Snape. The man who was supposed to be dead. The one she had WATCHED die the night of the Battle of Hogwarts. What the bloody fuck!? Her mind swirled as she looked for answers. She stared at him as she tried to gather herself. She could gather her self. But when he spoke, the words bringing her back to her days at Hogwarts in Potions class, it was all too real and her world went dark.

She fainted. The little Gryffindor princess had fainted. Severus glared down at her crumpled form then around the alley itself. He couldn't just leave her here. Even with the memories of her attackers wiped, she wouldn't be safe from them or others if he left her here. But what to do with her. He didn't have even the barest idea where she lived. And if he took her to any Wizarding location, he would surely be seen and recognized and he was quite happy being 'Dead.'

Groaning to himself and wondering how the hell he got himself into this, he bent and scooped the girl into his arms. She was lighter than she looked even and seeing her closer, he could tell she hadn't been eating properly. He frowned down at the girl in his arms, in her barely there outfit. With a sigh he concentrated and apparated from the alley way and to his home.

Hermione awoke with a pounding in her head. Every muscle in her body ached. She groaned and tried to move despite the pain. Blindly, she fumbled for her nightstand where she kept muggle pain relievers as well as pain relieving potions. She frowned when her practiced movement was met with empty air. Who the hell had moved her nightstand? Eyes still closed against the the pounding headache, she stretched a little further, leaning a little over the edge of her bed, but the bed wasn't the size it normally was and she tumbled off the bed entirely.

She landed unceremoniously on the hardwood floor. Wait… she had carpet in her flat. Her eyes snapped open at the thought. The headache forgotten for the moment, she hastily stood and looked around. She was in a small bedroom, barely adorned with more than a bed and a table at the far end. Light shining painfully from outside told her that it was midday at least. Where the hell was she?

Her mind danced back to the night before. She had been out dancing… then she left with a guy… then they were attacked. Her wand had gotten caught in her fishnets and she hadn't been able to defend herself. But… then… then she had been rescued. By Professor Snape.

"No." She said aloud. She had to have been mistaken. Snape was dead. She had seen it. She shook her head and reached down to get her wand from her boot. But she wasn't wearing her boots, nor any of the clothes she had worn the night before. In their place was a simple black tshirt and too-large black sweat pants.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" She demanded. To whom, she didn't know. It was all more than she could handle, especially with her headache.

The door to the room opened then and she nearly came up out of her skin, trying to land in a more defensive position. Her eyes widened as recognized the figure in the doorway.

"You really are alive."

_So what do you think? What will happen next? Stay tuned to find out! Remember to review! -Mystrye_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- Sorry for taking so long to post this next chapter. School and life just got so crazy with moving and such. I am currently looking for a beta who might be interested in helping me with editing and proofreading as well as someone to help me with plot points. In any case, hope you enjoy this chapter! More to follow soon I hope! :D ~Mystrye**

Chapter 4

Severus raised a dark eyebrow at his former student. 'Stating the obvious as always, Miss Granger.' He answered as he stepped into the room and placed the bundle in his hands on the bed.

Hermione stared at him dumbfounded. She was certain she had seen him die years ago. 'how is this possible? I saw you die.' she whispered.

Severus sighed. "it's a delightful tale I'm sure but I don't care to tell it at this moment. In fact I had hoped to never tell it at all. But seeing how you've discovered the secret, I am betting that I certainly won't be rid of you until your insatiable curiosity is satisfied, i'm going to need a drink first."

He turned abruptly and left the room and descended the stairs. Hermione stared after him for a moment before hastily following him.

When she caught up with him he was pouring himself a glass of liquor from an antique decanter. He downed it in one gulp before pouring a second and taking a seat in a rather old but still plush wingback chair. The room they were in was a drawing room or library or office. It could have been used for any or all of those purposes. Or none of them considering the cobwebs that coveted the corners and highest shelves.

"Are you going to stand there staring all night, Miss Granger," he snapped and Hermione jumped, flashing back to those years at Hogwarts where her professor had struck fear in all the students.

Recovering fairly quickly, she glared back. No longer the child she had been. "Maybe I will," she responded before walking over to pour herself a glass from the same decanter of liquor he had. Taking a sip, she took a seat on the simple couch across from him.

They sat in silence for a moment before she broke it. "Well?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, what?"

She glared at him. "If you aren't going to tell the story then I have other places to be."

"Oh? Like getting drunk in muggle bars, having sex with strangers, and not being able to defend yourself when attacked. Please, be my guest," he responded before taking another sip of his drink.

"Dammit!" She exclaimed angrily. "Fine!" She stood to leave. She reached the door before turning around. "You have to right to judge me. None! You've been playing dead for years! And before that your activities aren't exactly squeaky clean, professor. Beyond that, you have no clue what I've been through not only during the war but in the years after. So don't you dare judge my activities," she turned to leave again but he was there, in front of her with a look in his eyes that confused her entirely.

"What happened to you, Miss Granger? Why aren't you with Potter and Weasley? What were you doing in that club?" he asked in a voice laced with what hermione wanted to believe was concern.

She eyed him. "No. Storytime was supposed to feature the tale of one Severus Snape tonight," her glare didn't waver as he sighed and led her back to the couch.

Severus settled into his chair again and downed the rest of his drink. He proceeded to weave a tale of how he was all but dead when he was found by Narcissa Malfoy. The battle was mostly over when she managed to apparate with him and the rest of her family back to Malfoy Manor. There they were able to nurse him back to health. Though knowing how hated he was right after the war, they kept him hidden. Then Harry Potter had worked to clear his name and promoted him as a hero and severus just wanted to remain removed from the world that had caused him so much pain all his life.

Every time Hermione wanted to ask a question he would glare at her and continue talking. Finally he ended his story with going with Draco, one of the few people who knew of his alive status, to the muggle bar where he has saved Hermione.

She sat staring at him by the end of it. It was a simple story really. She couldn't blame him for wanting out of the wizarding world after all the hells he had seen there. People he loved were dead. Some by his own hand. The things he had done to end Voldemort were worse than most had ever dreamt of.

"I... I won't tell anyone, professor. Your secret is safe with me,"' she said soberly.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- Here is chapter 5! I hope you enjoy! This is kinda filler, but provides a look into what else has been going on and leading up to some of this. Hope you enjoy! PLEASE review and let me know what you think!**

Chapter 5

A silence stretched between them for a long moment after she spoke. His story hung in the air and neither of them knew what to say afterwards. What do you follow up a story like that with? Hermione stared at her now empty glass for several minutes while Severus finished his again.

"I appreciate that." His voice breaking through the quiet made her jump again.

"What?" She asked, confused.

He rolled her eyes at her. "For not telling anyone. Really? Of what did you think I was speaking?" He stood in a smooth and graceful motion. Hermione frowned at her former professor but finally found herself studying him. She had grown so used to him as she viewed him when she was a student. Imposing, always dressed in black robes that had billowed around him like something out of an old-school muggle movie. Now he was in black dress pants and a dark green button up shirt with black shoes. He was still tall and imposing, with eyes that made her want to shrink back and hope he didn't deduct house points. But she was older now and could also appreciate that he was man, one who had been through too much in his life, but still managed to keep a sense of decorum and dignity around him. His hair was pulled back from his face in a way that it never had while she had been in his classroom.

"Yes. Of course." She responded.

"Well, I'm sure you would like to get back to whatever it is you are doing with your life, Miss Granger. Now that you have had your curiosity sated, I assume I will be left in peace and won't have to rescue you from another night of horrible decisions?" He walked past her and opened the door to the room and waited for her to join him.

She stood slowly and followed him, stopping in front of him and looking up at his face. "I can't make you any promises." She smiled a little. She glanced at a window across the hall from where they stood, seeing bits of the sun peaking through the dark curtains. "I would suggest that we get something for supper, but I doubt you would be interested in sharing a meal with a former student. But if you ever want to spend time with anyone other than Draco..."

His intense, dark eyes studied her for a moment and she could have swore he moved forward a moment and his hand seemed to twitch a little before he finally answered. "I seriously doubt it, Miss Granger." He brushed passed her and walked to the front door. Opening it, he stood expectantly. "Now that you have your answers, I expect to be left alone as was my original intentions."

Hermione frowned at him as she 'Accio-ed' her other clothing and boots. "As you wish." She answered as she walked out the door.

"There is a courtyard around the side of the house that you can apparate from. Good bye, Miss Granger."

The door closed in her face and Hermione stared at it for a moment She had no idea what the emotion in her chest was but she squared her shoulders against it. Finding her way to the courtyard he had mentioned, she apparated to her own home, oblivious of Severus' eyes watching her from the window in his bedroom.

Home for Hermione was lonely, depressing, and lacking of any real homey touches at all. It was a place to bathe and sleep. That's all it had been since she had split with Ron three years earlier. She wandered into the small flat and dumped her things in a chair as she headed towards the bathroom, thinking about the story that Severus Snape had told her. Stripping out of the black sweat pants and tshirt that he had provided her with, she turned the shower on and stepped in under the water. As it poured over her body, she pondered the implications of the revelation that he lived. He had been among the dead that she had been mourning for the better part of six years. His had been one of the faces that had haunted her dreams. One of the many she had been unable to save. And now he was alive, and from what she could tell, doing well. Thanks not to her, but to the Malfoys.

Her thoughts turned to her own life as the water continued to cascade over her. Her life that existed of working in a small archive department inside the Ministry of Magic. It kept her from having to deal with people on a regular basis. She had tried to work in the Department for Magical Law Enforcement right after the war. It had been an aspiration of her's through her tenure as a student at Hogwarts, but soon she realized that her job was more about dealing with everyone asking her a million questions. "What was the war like? What was it like to be on the run? Is it true that Bellatrix Lestrange tortured you? Is it true that you were having sex with both Harry Potter and Ron Weasley while you were on the run? Did you have a secret child out of wedlock with one or both of them?" The questions had ranged from redundant to annoying to obscene in quick order and after she had nearly hexed a man for his rude questions, she had requested a transfer to a department that dealt with people on a far less regular basis.

But that meant that her work was lonely, boring, and left her to dwell in her own mind for eight hours a day. Which was why she found herself at Muggle nightclubs night after night. No one knew who she was there. There were no questions. No cameras. No moving pictures in the Daily Prophet the next morning with the headline: HERMIONE GRANGER, OF GOLDEN TRIO FAME, SPENDS ANOTHER NIGHT ON THE TOWN! SO SAD NOW THAT RON AND WEASLEY ARE IN RELATIONSHIPS? or something equally ridiculous.

The water finally ran cold and Hermione finally exited the shower. A quick charm would have dried her off, but she had always prefered the feel of drying off with a plush towel. Once dry, she padded through the flat, naked, and flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, thankful that the day was Saturday and she wasn't expected at the Ministry until Monday. Her mind wandered once again to Snape.

What did he do in that house all by himself everyday? He looked remarkably good, considering everything he had been through. Hermione yawned and fell asleep while trying to come up with a good reason to pay him a visit.

**A/N- Hope you enjoyed this installment! What did you think? I'm also looking for a beta, so if you are interested let me know! Thanks for reading! Please review! -Mystrye**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N- Hello! Hope you enjoy! Please review! I'm also still looking for a Beta, so if you might be interested just let me know! -Mystrye**

Chapter 6

Hermione spent Sunday sleeping and watching some Muggle television and wondering about one Severus Snape. It was mildly frustrating, that he dominated her thoughts so much. She found herself creating little mental stories about what he did in that house all by himself and wondered what would constitute a good reason for stopping by and seeing him again. Without truely coming up with one, she made the decision that she would drop in on her former professor again the following weekend.

What Severus Snape did alone in that house all day was truly rather mundane and after Hermione left Saturday afternoon, he hoped it would remain that way. At least, that was what he told himself. He liked his quiet existence, far from the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. His house was in a small town and he rarely left it. He spent most of his days reading and occasionally working on theories of potion making. He had put much of his Potion Making passion on hold while working as a professor and double agent. There just wasn't the time between grading papers and making sure students didn't cause the whole castle to explode while also ferrying information back and forth between the two sides of the war. A few times he had gotten to experiment were more out of necessity than actual theoretical practice.

Most days he got up, dressed, ate, read the papers that Draco had delivered to Malfoy Manor and sent over via Floo every morning, then set about his reading and research in the library. Anything he needed, Narcissa or Draco brought to him, from food to potion ingredients and research materials. It was a good existence as best as he wanted it. After years of pain and struggle and strife and watching people die around him, he just wanted to be away from the world. Though he did harbor a small dream of making a breakthrough in potions and publishing it under a false name.

The days of the week tended to blur together in a mess of research and reading with little thought to anything else. But this week was proving difficult. His thoughts dwelled on the young witch who now knew he was very much alive. Would Hermione blab to the papers? Would the Daily Prophet's reporters be on his doorstep at any moment?

But as Sunday dragged on and turned into Monday, which turned into Tuesday, he began to wonder more about her. She had never told him why she was out dancing that night. At a muggle club of all things. Or why she wasn't with the rest of the Golden Trio and Weasley Clan. Why she looked underfed and unkempt.

"What happened to the Gryffindor Princess Know-it-all?" He wondered to himself outloud.

"Who?"

The voice behind him made Severus jump and spin in a defensive position. Draco stood in the doorway of the library with a raised eyebrow and a bemused expression. "Aren't you a little jumpy?" He said. "Did you forget I was coming today?"

Severus sighed and returned his wand to his sleeve. "You aren't supposed to be here until Friday." He snarled and turned back around to his notes on the desk.

"It is Friday." Draco answered. "Seriously, you need a calendar in here or something. Wouldn't hurt to open the curtains once and a while too." He plopped down in a plush chair not too far from where his former professor sat.

Snape shrugged a little but didn't really respond, thinking that if he ignored the blonde he would just go away.

"I restocked your fridge and brought you the potion ingredients you wanted. They are already in your storeroom." Draco continued. "Also mother wants to know if you would like to have dinner sometime next week."

Severus looked over at his adopted nephew. "Sure. Have her tell me what day and time. Is there anything else?"

"Yea. How did your night fare after I left the club last week? Manage to find some muggle tail to enjoy?" Draco smirked.

"Even if I did, Draco, I would not be telling you." Severus snarked at him. "Though I am certain you finally found what you were looking for?"

Draco flashed a grin. "Oh you know I did. Next street over from there was another club. Picked up a red head. Full of fire. You'd swear she was part dragon." He chuckled and proceeded to regale his uncle with more details than were needed but Severus let him talk. Anything to keep his nephew from asking any more questions about what else had transpired that night.

Finally, Draco wrapped up the story and stood. "Well, mother will be expecting me for dinner. She has some new prospect for me to marry over for dinner." He rolled his eyes at the idea.

"Humor her." Severus stated, rising to show his nephew out. ""She means well."

"Yea, I know." Draco made for the front door. "Good evening, Uncle." He said as Severus detoured to the kitchen with a short "Goodbye."

Severus was staring into the fridge, trying to decide what to make for dinner when Draco re-entered the room. "Uncle! Did you know that Granger knows you are alive and that she is here!?"

Severus looked up to see Hermione standing slightly behind Draco with a guilty look on her face. "Hi, again."


End file.
